This document is a thesis proposal that aims to study how teachers and students in primary schools address individual learning patterns and styles. The researcher plans to conduct case studies of classrooms through observations and interviews with teachers and students. Specifically, the study seeks to understand perceptions of learning differences, strategies used to address styles, and outcomes of instruction that does and does not consider individual learning patterns. Results could provide insights into how learning styles are understood and applied in practice from the perspectives of teachers and students. Limitations include the challenges of recruiting child participants and developing rapport for interviews.

1. the
intuitive appeal of
learning styles
Classroom perceptions
and strategies in
addressing different
learning patterns
Luis Manuel Pinto
MSc in Educational Sciences
Master Thesis Proposal
Promotor Prof Dr. Katrien Struyven

3. the growing
challenge of
diversity
• Common agreement about
existence of individual
learning difference (e.g. pacing
and timing)
• Push for strategies to address
learner variance in the
classroom
• Differentiated instruction on
the basis of readiness, interest
and learning profile

4. the Beast…
• “solutions” for improving attainment,
motivation, attitudes and attendance of
students paired with a culture of
increased benchmarking
• Explanation as to why traditional
methods of schooling, based on teacher-
to-student transmission are failing

5. “Teachers are usually those who have
succeeded in the system so their preferred
styles can often be justified as generically
preferable because they facilitate learning
in current institutions and systems”
(Ritter, 2007)

6. …and the
Beauty
• helping professionals to notice and focus on
how students learn (or fail to learn
• a re-categorization of students previously
considered uneducable, now teacher fail to
teach adequately
• a “lexicon” for talking about learning and
improving meta-cognition of students.

7. • Instrument bound
• “Balkanisation” of style research
• Discrepancies of theory and practice
(including commercial)
• Confusion of terminology
• Criticism of “style” based mainly on
achievement and testing
Style research:
Divide & Conquer?

8. holists VS serialists
deep VS surface learning
activists VS reflectors
pragmatists VS theorists
adaptors VS innovators
assimilators VS explorers
field dependent VS field independent
globalists VS analysts
assimilators VS accommodators
imaginative VS analytic learners
non-committers VS plungers
common-sense VS dynamic learners
concrete VS abstract learners
random VS sequential learners
initiators VS reasoners
Coffield, 2004

9. two sides…
…one coin.

10. • what differences do they notice
in students?
• what teachers know about
"learning style”
• what strategies do they adopt,
supported or not by a framework
of "style”
• what works or doesn't work
when differentiating instruction
on the basis of style
• what outcomes do they perceive,
other than achievement?
two sides…
…same coin.
• children disregarded
• how aware are they o
their differences?
• how they interact wit
metacognition and
self-regulation?
• what strategies do the
adopt in relation to
their learning pattern

11. We need…
A reinterpretation in terms of conceptions of learning style
to encompass the interrelations among cognitive, affective
and regulative learning activities, mental models of learning
and learning orientations.
A more holistic understanding and "a stronger experiential
underpinning to the notion of learning styles” to render it
“more attractive to practitioners and to students themselves"
Richardson, 2011

12. Purpose
Describe the perceptions of
teachers and students in primary
school classrooms of student's
individual learning differences
and patterns, and how according
to their subjective experience,
they affect their learning process
and outcomes.

13. General Question
How do teachers and students
in primary school classrooms
address student’s individual
learning patterns (learning
styles)?

14. Learning style construct comprehends
innumerous dimensions that are not
necessarily observable in students'
nonverbal behavior but have to be
inferred from their self-reports in either
interviews or questionnaire surveys.

15. • What outcomes do teachers and students
experience from instruction that
addresses individual learning patterns?
• What strategies do teachers and students
use to address learning styles and how
do they support learning outcomes?
• What are the differences in perception
of teachers and students between
classroom experiences which adopt a
specific approach to addressing learning
styles and those who do not?
Specific Questions

17. Methods
The units of study in this research
proposal are primary school
classrooms in Belgium using French
or English as instruction language.
The proposal is to conduct case
studies of classrooms in different
grades of primary schools,
accompanied by semi-structured
interviews (to teachers and students)
and classroom observations.

18. Timeline
Preparation:
• Screening and recruitment of primary school teachers willing to participate in
research (September-January 2014)
• Sending instructions to participant teachers (January 2014)
• Sending invitation and consent forms to legal guardians of students taught by
participating teachers (January-March 2015)
• Information session for guardians of participating children (March 2015)
Data Collection:
• Classroom observations; ice-breaking activities with participant classrooms
(March-April 2014)
• Pilot interviews with teachers and students (March-April 2015)
• Interviews to teachers and students (April-May 2015)
• Data analysis and interpretation of data (May-June 2015)
Presentation:
• Presentation of Results (June 2015)

19. Results and significance
Unique, detailed, personal accounts of teacher and student
perceptions, strategies and outcomes connected with addressing
learning styles in the classroom.
• Perceptions of individual learning differences / learning
patterns and how they relate to current models of learning style
• Personal and professional strategies of addressing learning style
• Identify some of the reasons why teachers may adopt or not a
particular model or approach to learning style
• Explore children's metacognitive abilities in describing own
learning patterns and how these may influence their self-
regulation
• Holistic perspective on learning style and explore possible
connections, from the subjective perspective of the teacher and
the student

20. Limitations
• Recruitment of children requires for
parental support
• Recruitment of teacher criteria is wide
• Interview is somewhat an “intervention”
• Metacognition in earlier years is less
developed
• Rapport between interviewer and subject
will strongly influence the outcome
• Low interrater reliability

22. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a
fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live
its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein